On the third anniversary of the brutal Nirbhaya gangrape and the
juvenile convict is all set to walk free by December 20, but the parents of the
victim say they feel no sense of closure.

According to
news reports, Delhi government's department of Women and Child Development
(WCD) is planning to give the juvenile a one-time financial grant of Rs 10,000
and a sewing machine to enable him to open a tailoring shop. The release
of the juvenile has been a matter of debate for sometime now, with the
government not too keen to set him free. The Intelligence Bureau had earlier
said that the rapist had allegedly been radicalised inside the correction home.

Nirbhaya's parents have expressed grief and opposition over
juvenile's release.

"We
have failed. Now there is no hope for justice," the parents of the
gang-rape victim said. "With each passing day her memories get more
intense. But we are not even able to face the memories as we have failed to
secure justice for her. And now there is no hope for justice!," the
50-year-old father of the victim added.

The Centre had asked Delhi High Court to extend the observation
home stay of the convict. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had appealed that the
juvenile convict should not be released till it is demonstrably assured that he
has reformed himself and was not a menace to the society.

The victim, on December 16, 2012, was brutally assaulted by six
persons, including the juvenile, in a moving bus in south Delhi. She had later
succumbed to her injuries in a Singapore hospital plunging the country into
grief.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka
Gandhi feels the intelligence reports of a “Kashmiri militant” radicalising the
juvenile accused in the Delhi gang rape in a correctional home vindicates her
stand that law should treat as adults those aged 16-18 accused of heinous
crimes.

She said on the third anniversary of the gang rape that shook
the nation and sparked protests in the capital. Ms. Maneka Gandhi said it was
“shameful” the Rajya Sabha did not pass the Bill to amend the Juvenile Justice
Act for “political reasons”.

If he was radicalized during his stay in a
children’s home, it is even more frightening that Kashmiri terrorists were in a
children’s home. Has nobody looked at it? All the more reason for this Act to
be passed. Can a Kashmiri terrorist who has blown up people and killed people
be put in a children’s home where he can radicalise other children,” she said.
“So, pass the Bill so that you don’t get people like Kashmiri terrorists and
rapists in with normal children.”

It is not a political Bill. Nor will it be
remembered as my private Bill. It is a collaborative effort by members of all
parties. The subtext of the Bill started during the Congress rule. It has
passed through every kind of committee…And it is a Bill that is matured and
nuanced. It’s not knee-jerk in the slightest. Now, you won’t let it pass
through the Rajya Sabha for political reasons. Every day, it’s a different
reason,” said the Union Minister.

This has been lying in the Rajya Sabha for over a year now. In
the meantime, crime in this segment of 16-18 has become the largest amount of
crime. And the victims of this group are only children. How can we protect
those seven-year-olds and three-year-olds and four-year-olds…,” she asked.

Ms. Maneka Gandhi also wanted a law to allow police tracking of
the movements of all perpetrators of sexual crimes — be they juveniles or
adults - once they were freed.